NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, April 2, 2012

INCIDENTS

Pacific West Region

Additional Convictions Made In Operation Antiquity

On March 19th, M.M. and M.G. were each sentenced for felony Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) violations in US District Court in Los Angeles. The sentencings stemmed from a five-year-long investigation called “Operation Antiquity” that focused on looting, importation, sale and tax fraud violations related to cultural items from the U.S. and other countries. Participating along with the NPS in this investigative effort are Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division. Looted Native American and pre-Columbian artifacts were consigned to M.M. and M.G. in June 2004 by an undercover NPS agent. M.M. and the auction company knew that the domestic artifacts were illegally taken from public lands and that the pre-Columbian artifacts had been smuggled into the US from Central America. Despite this knowledge, these antiquities were sold by M.M. at an auction in October 2004 for $3,000. In January 2005, a second lot of smuggled pre-Columbian artifacts were consigned to M.M. and M.G. Having been provided information about the smuggled nature of the artifacts both verbally and in writing, these antiquities were sold for $1,500 by M.M. at an auction in February 2005. In both instances, the illicit artifacts were purchased back by NPS rangers and agents posing as buyers. In January 2008, a search warrant was served at M.G. in Encino, California, by agents with the NPS and ICE. M.M. and gallery employees were also interviewed at this time. At the sentencing hearing on March 19th, M.M. was sentenced to a year of home detention, two years of probation and 150 hours of community service. M.G. and M.M. were jointly ordered to pay about $24,000 in fines, restitution and community service. Additional cases against other entities are pending. More information about this ongoing investigation may be found at the link below. [Todd Swain] HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=3701" http://classicinside.nps.gov/headline.cfm?type=Incidents& id=3701

Gila Cliff Dwellings NM

Body Of Missing Runner Found

The body of M.T., an internationally renowned distance runner and subject of the book Born to Run, was recovered by Grant County Search and Rescue and US Forest Service personnel on Sunday, April 1st. M.T. had been missing since last Tuesday morning, when he departed from the nearby small town of Gila Hot Springs, where he had been staying with friends, for a 12 mile run. He was found by friends some two miles off-trail and two miles south of the park's Cliff Dwellings Unit on Saturday afternoon. At the peak of the search on Saturday, some 75 searchers on foot and another dozen on horseback were in the field. New Mexico State Police, Army National Guard and Civil Air Patrol furnished helicopters and fixed wing aircraft for the search and to provide for radio coverage in the rugged terrain of the Gila Wilderness. The five day search and recovery effort was based out of the multi-agency Gila Visitor Center, where NPS staff provided logistical support. [Steve Riley, Superintendent]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Office of Communications - Dress uniforms worn by former NPS directors Roger Kennedy, Fran Mainella and Mary Bomar were recently donated to Harpers Ferry Center to be preserved in its historic collections.

Theodore Roosevelt NP - The park's elk management plan will move into the maintenance phase this fall following two highly successful elk reduction efforts over the past two years.

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings, newly introduced bills, and the status of legislation of interest to the National Park Service. This report covers activities during the week ending on March 30th.

Geologic Resources Division - Lisa Norby, currently a geologist with the Geologic Resources Division, has been selected as the chief of the division's Energy and Minerals Branch.

Southeast Region - David Ates, architect and project manager for Southeast Region, retired after 35 years 3 months and 3 days of federal service on March 31st.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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